1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to an automated invoicing system and in particular to an Internet-based electronic invoice presentment system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A common activity for any business is to receive and pay several invoices from their outside suppliers or creditors (xe2x80x9cinvoicersxe2x80x9d) every month. These invoicers usually include utility companies, outside contractors, suppliers, banks, and other external service providers. The business receiving these invoices (xe2x80x9cpayorxe2x80x9d), often spends a considerable amount of time processing and making payments on the invoices.
If there is a dispute between the payor and the invoicer, a significant amount of time may be spent resolving that dispute. For example, the payor often must contact the invoicer either by phone or alternatively return the invoice with an explanation of the dispute. The two parties then proceed to resolve the dispute and usually a corrected invoice is then submitted or the invoice is abandoned.
Once the invoice is acceptable, the payor makes a check for the invoice amount and, together with the invoice, mails it back to the invoicer. Or, the payor may have another payment arrangements with the invoicer. Both the invoicer and the payor incur substantial costs in billing and paying for invoices in this manner.
Attempts have been made to automate this process through the use of computer systems that receive and transmit invoices between invoicers, payors, and financial institutions. However, these systems generally do not provide an efficient means of dealing with the invoicing process.
One problem is the incompatibility of the systems used by different parties. Often computer invoicing systems require a translator at the payor""s system to convert the invoice information received into the payor""s internal accounting system. This adds a level of complexity to the process and requires the payor to have a sophisticated and modifiable internal accounting system. It may also require the expense of hiring a programmer. Furthermore, if, in the future, there is a change in the format of invoice information coming in, the translator would have to be modified and this increases the cost of maintaining the system.
Moreover, often times a payor is only disputing certain items in the invoice and not the entire invoice. In some current systems, the entire invoice is disputed and sent back to the invoicer. Thus, some current systems may fail to remit payment for the undisputed items. Furthermore, the invoicer does not become aware of the reasons for the rejection of the disputed items until the invoice is received back at the invoicer. This often delays the invoicing process at a great cost to the invoicer. The invoicer""s cash flow is adversely affected as undisputed items are not paid. The payor also incurs costs because they will have to deal with the same invoice on several occasions.
Another problem with the current available systems is that they do not take into account that payors often have internal, rule-based, multi-level approval systems for invoice processing. In other words, the payor company often has an internal hierarchy and procedure for approval of invoices before payments are made. For example, certain invoices can only be approved by a certain employee or a class of employees and other invoices can only be approved by another class of employees. Often a significant amount of time and labor is wasted when the invoices go to the wrong person in the payor company or pass between several persons in the payor company.
Also, the current attempts to automate the invoicing process fail to allow the payor to customize the format in which invoices are received. Often times it is the invoicers that dictate how an invoice is to be presented and how, if at all, the payor can dispute the invoice.
The present invention is a system for automated invoicing. One aspect of the invention is to provide a payor-based approach to electronic invoicing. The invention provides a flexible system for payors to customize the format of their invoices, view each invoice item by item, and approve or dispute those invoices on an item by item basis.
Another aspect of the invention eliminates the need for a translation or conversion program to reside on the payor""s internal financial system. This aspect of the invention works to simplify and downsize the payor""s internal financial system. This aspect of the invention also eliminates the need for a translation or conversion program to reside on the invoicer""s system. Thus, this aspect of the invention also works to simplify and downsize the invoicer""s system.
Another aspect of the invention authenticates that the invoice came from an approved invoicer and that the invoice is in the payor""s desired format. The invention then consolidates the invoices from all of the payor""s invoicers into one file to be transmitted to the payor. This aspect prevents erroneous invoices from reaching the payor""s system.
Another aspect of the invention allows the payor to establish a rule-based, multi-level invoice authorization, approval, and routing process according to the payor""s internal invoice approval hierarchy. This aspect ensures that only the appropriate people in the payor""s organization approve the payment of an invoice and that the system is secure against abuse.
Another aspect of the invention allows invoicers to view the payment status of their invoices over the Internet with the use of a web browser. The system will indicate if the invoice has been received, approved, partially approved, or disputed and the reasons for the dispute, if any. This aspect creates an efficient and accurate method for invoicers to check payment status of invoices. Further, this aspect of the invention, in the event of a dispute, allows the invoicer to be notified in a timely manner along with the reasons for the dispute. This allows the invoicer to resolve the dispute quicker, thus improving invoicer""s cash flow and client relations.
Another aspect of the invention gives functionality to the invoicer to redirect their printer stream to supply invoice information for invoicing the payor in the same manner that the invoicer would print to a printer. This aspect makes submitting invoices to customers as easy as printing invoices on a printer.
For purposes of summarizing the invention, certain aspects, advantages and novel features of the invention have been described herein. Of course, it is to be understood that not necessarily all such aspects, advantages or features will be embodied in any particular embodiment of the invention.